Gordon Brown: Items on the agenda are as follows:
	Enlargement of the Euro area—ECOFIN will discuss the convergence reports prepared by the Commission and the European Central Bank as well as the draft Council decision to abrogate Slovenia's derogation for fulfilling the necessary conditions for Economic and Monetary Union Membership.
	EU-US Dialogue: Preparation of the EU-US Summit—Ministers will discuss economic issues in the run up to the EU-US summit on 21 June in Vienna. The Commission is also expected to report on the EU-US financial markets regulatory dialogue.
	VAT—Presidency will seek agreement on its proposed package to modernise the VAT system, including a proposal on "Place Of Supply of Services".
	Combating Tax Fraud—Ministers will hear an oral presentation from the Commission on combating tax fraud, and will consider Council conclusions on further action to combat fraud in this field.
	Company Tax—ECOFIN will discuss a Communication from the Commission examining company tax obstacles inhibiting the functioning of the internal market.
	Code of Conduc— ECOFIN will consider a report from the code of conduct group on business taxation, which is chaired by the Paymaster General, on its work during the Austrian presidency.

Yvette Cooper: I have today issued a consultation paper, "Draft Marine Minerals Dredging Regulations and Procedural Guidance". This seeks comments on a proposed statutory scheme of regulation, which will formally transpose the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Habitats Directives, in relation to marine minerals dredging in waters around England and Northern Ireland. Subject to consultation comments, we are hoping that the final Regulations implementing the new statutory scheme will come into force by the end of 2006.
	The Crown Estate owns most of the seabed out to the 12 mile territorial limit and has rights to all the non-energy minerals within the remainder of the UK share of the Continental Shelf. It currently licences marine minerals dredging from the seabed under its control on a commercial basis, but only if a favourable Government View (GV) on the environmental acceptability of the proposal has first been issued by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The GV procedure is a voluntary, informal process which already incorporates the various requirements of the EIA and Habitats Directives. The proposed Regulations will replace this informal procedure and formally transpose the Directives.
	Separate Regulations transposing the Directives in relation to marine minerals dredging in Scottish waters and Welsh territorial waters are, respectively, being prepared and are intended to be prepared by the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly Government.
	Copies of the consultation paper are being sent to a wide variety of organisations including marine dredging companies, organisations representing the fishing industry, environmental and amenity groups, coastal local authorities, Government Departments and agencies. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The paper is also available on the Department for Communities and Local Government website at: www.communities.gov.uk. The consultation period ends on Monday 28 August 2006.

Jim Fitzpatrick: My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science and Technology (Lord Sainsbury of Turville) has made the following ministerial statement:
	I attended the Competitiveness Council in Brussels on 29-30 May. The first day was chaired by Martin Bartenstein, Austrian Minister for Economics and Labour, with Ursula Haubner, Austrian Minister for Social Security and Consumer Protection chairing the consumer items.
	Day 1 Monday 29 May
	The first day was dominated by negotiations on the services directive, which started over lunch and continued into the evening. The other main items on Monday were discussions on Consumer Credit, Sustainable Development and Better Regulation.
	Services Directive
	The Council reached a political agreement on a common position on the Draft Services Directive, with the UK voting in favour. Lithuania and Belgium abstained. The agreement was based largely on the European Parliament's first reading opinion and the Commission's subsequent amended proposal, modified to take account of member states' views in particular on the scope of the directive and on the country of origin principle. The revised proposal also contains stronger screening mechanisms, which oblige member states to review their legislation against the "better regulation" criteria in the directive.
	Better Regulation
	The Council took note of a presidency progress report on Better Regulation. The report gave a short account of work in progress under the Austrian presidency as regards impact assessments, simplification of legislation, screening of pending legislative proposals and assessing and reducing administrative costs. I welcomed the progress made by the Commission and the presidency in taking forward this important agenda and I led member state interventions by stressing the need to match rhetoric with action, in particular on special provisions for SMEs and setting targets for reducing burdens. A number of other member states also emphasised the importance of driving forward the Better Regulation agenda.
	Sustainable Development
	The Council held a policy debate on the review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. The strategy is being discussed in a number of formations of the Council, including the Energy and Environment Councils, with a view to reaching agreement at the European Council meeting on 15 and 16 June. The presidency had circulated a set of questions in advance of the Council to which member states responded in writing. The presidency provided a summary of these responses in the Council meeting.
	Consumer Credit
	The Council held a policy debate on a draft "Directive on Consumer Credit". Again, the presidency had circulated a number of questions in advance of the Council to which member states responded in writing. The questions were on harmonisation, early repayment and cross-border comparability of consumer credit agreements. The discussion in the Council focused primarily on the central question of maximum harmonisation and mutual recognition within the directive. I welcomed the objective of opening up the single market in consumer credit, but emphasised that any directive would have to maintain levels of consumer protection, and should be based on a rigorous analysis of costs and benefits.
	AOB agenda items:
	The Council took note of information from the Polish delegation on EU import duties on primary aluminium: requesting the Commission to suspend import duties on raw aluminium. I supported this request along with a number of other member states.
	On Euro V. the Council took note of information from the French delegation concerning the proposal for a Regulation aimed at limiting emissions from light vehicles. Several delegations intervened in support of the French delegation.
	On Public Procurement, the Council took note of the information provided by Germany (along with France and Austria) asking the Commission to withdraw its draft interpretative communication on regimes for below—threshold procurements. I supported this request, along with a number of other member states.
	The presidency gave short reports about conferences on REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), Consumer Protection and Tourism. It also noted presentations by the presidency on Clusters, and by Commission Vice President Gunter Verheugen on the communication "A new tourism policy: towards a stronger partnership for European tourism".
	Day 2 Tuesday 30 May
	The second day was devoted to research and space business. Elisabeth Gehrer, Austrian Minister for Education, Research and Culture chaired the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) items. Hubert Gorbach, Austrian Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology chaired the space item.
	A General Approach was agreed on the draft Regulation laying down the Rules of Participation for the FP7. The UK voted in favour.
	The Council also reached agreement on a general approach on the FP7 for research and technology development. The UK voted in favour. The Council also considered the Euratom framework programme, but did not reach agreement.
	Lunch and other AOB items
	The Council took note of information from the Commission on its recent communication on modernising universities and on ITER but there was no discussion.
	On Space Policy, the Council took note of information by the presidency on the main results of a conference on GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security System) which was held in Graz on 19-20 April, as an input for the future elaboration of the European Space Programme. The Council also took note of information by the Commission on the state of play concerning developments towards European space policy and the roadmap foreseen for future developments in this area.

TRANSPORT

Douglas Alexander: The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport announced publication of the second stage of a consultation exercise on night restrictions to apply at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports from October 2005 until the end of the summer season 2012, 9 June 2005, Official Report, column 58WS. That consultation paper took into account all relevant responses to the stage one consultation paper issued on 21 July 2004.
	The stage 2 consultation paper also announced our intention to extend the current night restrictions regime for a further year to end on 29 October 2006. This decision was confirmed, when the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport announced the movements limits and noise quotas to apply for the summer 2006 season, 15 December 2005, Official Report, column 177WS.
	I have now decided on the restrictions that will apply from 29 October 2006 to October 2012. Full details of the decision and the reasons for it are set out in the document "Night Flying Restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted" including Annex A, the final Regulatory Impact Assessment, and Annex B, Assessments to comply with European Directive 2002/30, copies of which have been placed in the House Library.
	The decision takes account of all the responses that we received to the consultation. In order to remove uncertainty on an element which had given rise to particular concerns, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport announced on 8 May 2006, Official Report, columns 61-62 that we had decided not to increase the night-time movements limits at Heathrow during the period 2006 to 2012. This is but one aspect of the full decision that I am publishing today.
	As in the previous regime, the new night restrictions regime for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted recognises both a night period, 2300-0700 hours, and a night quota period, 2330-0600 hours. During the whole of the night period, the noisiest types of aircraft (classified as QC/8 or QC/16) may not be scheduled to land or to take off and they are effectively banned from doing so (other than in the most exceptional circumstances) in the night quota period. The next noisiest types (QC/4) may also no longer be scheduled to operate in the night quota period. In addition, during the night quota period movements by most other types of aircraft (including the new QC/0.25 category) will be restricted by a movements limit and a noise quota, which are set for each season. The seasons change with the clocks.
	Unlike previous night restrictions regimes, the new restrictions take account of environmental objectives and specific noise abatement objectives for each airport. These objectives have been decided following consultation and are an integral part of my present decision. The objectives are set out in the document "Night Flying Restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted". The decision also includes the requirement for the airports to adopt the specified night-noise-related criteria to determine which residents should be offered sound insulation to be paid for or contributed to by the airport.
	I consider that for each airport the decision strikes the appropriate balance between the need to protect local communities from excessive noise and the benefits that services can bring to the national, regional and local economy.
	The restrictions will be implemented by notice under section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982,